A key element of Saklan Project Based Learning units is a public product. This looks different depending on the division and, hopefully, over the last month, you have had the opportunity to share in a culminating event on campus!
In our Early Childhood Education program, our projects culminate with a public event where students share all the expertise they have gained over the course of the project. It’s a joyful time to celebrate their hard work with family, friends, and other students and staff. It is also a rich opportunity for them to be the experts in the room and develop their speaking and listening skills. Recently our Pre-K (Hoot Owl) class culminated their project unit on farmers’ markets.
In our lower and middle school projects, products are created for an audience beyond the teacher and students in the classroom. One key aspect of a public product in these divisions is that it must raise the stakes of the work in a meaningful and authentic way. Students aren’t doing something just for the sake of doing it or solely regurgitating information learned from teacher-directed lessons.
Instead, the work students engage in mirrors what adults do in their various career pursuits. After student-led inquiry and teacher guidance to address the content standards, students make or do something that serves some purpose in the Saklan or broader community. Students are creating, educating, or advocating beyond the context of our classrooms. Some examples of recent products that answer the driving question and serve an authentic public purpose are below:
| Grade | Driving Question | Public Product |
| 2nd | Can animals survive in any habitat? | Lunch table mini posters advocating for food swaps that help avoid palm oil. |
| 2nd | How can we use color to communicate feelings? | Design and creation of the concert backdrop for our Spring Concert at the Lesher Center |
| 3rd | How can we show respect to the people whose ancestral land our school is on? | Research, design, and creation of the hopscotch and four square murals on the sports court to reflect the Saklan Bay Miwok culture. |
| 6th | Who do artifacts really belong to? | Public art graffiti stencils to share options on repatriation of artifacts with the community. |
The final products differ but all include authentic sharing and action beyond our classrooms. At Saklan, students feel a sense of purpose that is hard to replicate in other styles of teaching and learning. This brings the work alive and prepares them for the critical thinking challenges, complex communication needs, and creative problem-solving they will encounter in high school, college, and beyond.
If you’d like to dive deeper into the various design elements of a Project Based Learning (PBL) unit, check out the recording of our October 22nd Saklan Projects! virtual event. And we hope you can join us at our culminating events next week.
Upcoming Project Culminations
- Preschool (Owlets)- Nocturnal Animals Culmination Celebration at 8:35 a.m. on December 12th
- Kindergarten- Names Unit Culmination at 8:45 a.m. on Thursday, December 12th
#SaklanProjects
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